Coach admits to sex act with student

An Indiana high school cheerleading coach has been accused of seducing a teenage boy who plays on the school's basketball team.

Megan Crafton, 22, a part-time assistant cheerleading coach at Shelbyville High School, allegedly performed oral sex on the 17-year-old boy while in her car at a supermarket parking lot in January, reported the New York Daily News.

But she has pleaded not guilty to seducing a minor and insisted that she did not break the law, reported the Indianapolis Star.

Crafton turned herself over to the police on June 15. She admitted having sexual relations with the student, but argued it was not illegal, reported 24-Hour News 8 after her court appearance on Thursday.

Though the age of consent in Indiana is 16, state law forbids school employees from consorting with students under the age of 18 whom they oversee or supervise, local police said.

Crafton's lawyer, Mr G. Allen Lidy, said she was not in a position of authority over the student, reported the Indianapolis Star.

Mr Lidy explained: "She wasn't his coach. She wasn't his teacher. She wasn't his teacher's assistant."

But the Shelbyville police are not buying it.

"When she signed on as an assistant cheerleading coach, she took a responsibility that she wouldn't have relations at that school," said Lieutenant Michael Turner of the Shelbyville Police Department.

May have begun in January

Mr Turner added that he believes the relationship between Crafton and the student may have begun in January.

"The relationship itself between Crafton and the 17-year-old boy is not illegal, but the fact she held a part-time job there at the school made that relationship a crime," said Mr Turner.

"She was employed as an assistant cheerleading coach and that made her an authoritative role over this child, which by state law, makes it illegal."

The website, Busted Coverage, unearthed photos of Crafton that offer a window into her personal life, which include images of her kissing and hugging a man reported to be her fiance.

The photos of her frolics with friends were posted on Crafton's Facebook and Twitter accounts, but it is not clear when they were taken, reported New York Daily News.

School officials alerted the police about the relationship after hearing rumours circulating in the school, reported 24-Hour News 8.

If found guilty, Crafton could face up to three years in jail.

Trial is set for Sept 24.

This article was first published in The New Paper.